Paimon said, "We know a scholar named Tighnari. I remember a Sage once approached him directly. Nahida, why don't you come in with us and take a look?"
Nahida nodded. "Alright. Hopefully, we won't drag him into trouble by being here."
Entering the garden, Lumine encountered Haypasia, who seemed to have already connected with a deity and gained extraordinary wisdom. She now invited Lumine to connect with the deity's wisdom as well.
And that deity was right beside Lumine, so she turned and asked, "Nahida, do you think this is trustworthy?"
Nahida shook her head. "I've never heard of such a thing. But if you want to try, I'll do my best to protect your consciousness."
[Nahida: Strange. There's only one deity in Sumeru. Who is she connecting to?]
[Lumine: King Deshret?]
[Nahida: Though there are rumors of King Deshret's resurrection, I'm absolutely certain that he is truly dead—and thoroughly gone.]
[Ningguang: Perhaps this is what the Akademiya is truly trying to hide.]
[Dehya: Could there be a new deity appearing?]
Even though Lumine hadn't explicitly agreed, Haypasia continued her preparations. "Alright, now take my hand. I'll help establish a channel for your consciousness to connect."
Lumine glanced at Nahida. After Nahida nodded, Lumine extended her hand and closed her eyes.
Within her consciousness, lightning patterns flickered.
"I have been betrayed three times. Therefore, I know that all things in this world are but veils of deception. My anger will never subside."
Inside the consciousness space, a puppet was controlled by strings, and the hands pulling those strings belonged to the Raiden Shogun.
[Yae Miko: Scaramouche. Why is he here?]
[Paimon: Two Harbingers in Sumeru?]
[Lumine: Fighting two at once... the pressure is immense.]
[Ei: He was a test subject for my secret art. I should have destroyed him, but I took pity on him as a living being and gave him freedom.]
[Scaramouche: Is that your reason for abandoning me?]
[Ningguang: There's a saying in Liyue: 'If the child is not taught, the father is at fault.' Scaramouche's descent into evil has much to do with having no mother to guide him.]
[Ei: I haven't... I don't know how to be a mother.]
[Yae Miko: Ei, setting aside motherhood, you've managed to run the nation into a mess too.]
[Ei: Miko, perhaps it would have been better if I had entrusted him to you back then.]
[Paimon: Then there'd be a Scaramouche who loves reading light novels.]
[Lumine: And probably also a fan of fried tofu.]
[Scaramouche: I...]
[Yae Miko: If you ever want to come back, the Grand Narukami Shrine will save a room for you.]
"One is a god—my creator, my mother. She was swayed by power and abandoned me, the useless one."
"One is a human—my family, my friend. He was bound by fear and regarded me as an object of hatred."
"One is my kind—my hope, a bird whose wings had yet to fully grow. He was controlled by the limits of his lifespan and broke his promise to me."
"Humans cannot be trusted. Gods also fill me with hatred."
"I renounce everything. I deny and mock all that exists in this world. My chest will never be tainted by the mundane. I will cast away all human emotion."
"That hollow part of me shall be filled, like a pure white scroll at the moment of its creation, with a supreme divine heart brimming with divinity."
"Hahahahaha."
[Nahida: The Akademiya is using the Gnosis to create a god.]
[Dottore: Ah, that's a plan I've been preparing for years. I've laid the groundwork for countless ages. What a pity that it's about to end before it even truly begins.]
[Lumine: Such an evil experiment should never have been born.]
"Fear nothing. Pain is but a moment. Your era is about to end."
The monologue, paired with the images in her mind, left Lumine deeply shaken.
After exiting the consciousness connection, Lumine was stunned.
Paimon, who had also been connected, emerged with a very pained mind.
Lumine said, "That wasn't the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's consciousness, nor King Deshret's."
Paimon came back to her senses. "What we saw... was Scaramouche's past, wasn't it? A lot of the information matches up."